...“I think the first year everyone was concerned about the atmosphere and how loud the place was going to be,” said Rene Cloukey, the longtime sports director at WAGM-TV in Presque Isle. “I think since then you’ve really noticed the atmosphere build up with some of the games we’ve had and the huge crowds we’ve had there.”

The Cross Center, Cloukey said, has developed its own identity and provides an exciting basketball environment.

“Some people talk about, ‘I remember when at the Auditorium…,’ they remember the good old days,” he explained, “but I think everyone is now just saying this is a great new building, so let’s take in this environment and enjoy the seats and enjoy the games.”

Seating is one of the biggest differences between the two buildings. The Bangor Auditorium featured wooden bleachers and wood-backed seats, while the Cross Center has more than 5,000 padded, theater-style seats.

Here are some other highlights from Tourney 2017 at the Cross Insurance Center:

- – Fans looking for lots of scoring would be disappointed by the 2017 tournament. Out of forty-two games played, only three contests had each team scoring fifty or more points. Those three contests, all boys games, were Hermon vs. Washington Academy (55-51), Southern Aroostook vs. Greater Houlton Christian (73-50), and Fort Fairfield vs. Schenck (60-50). In nineteen games the winning team scored less than fifty points.

– The higher seed won 32 out of 42 games at the B, C, and D tournament.